Chbistian olsef



OLSEN.

TANK.

Patented July 21, 1885.

fiaeizzax' NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN OLSEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TANK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,746, dated July 21,1885.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN OLSEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tanks; and I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame.

The use of the present form of wooden tanks to contain the variousliquids required in the arts of brewing, starch-making, distilling, andthe like is ordinarily attended with the very serious inconvenience ofrapid and premature decay in the wood composing the staves of the same,thereby obviously entailing also greatly added expense. Even when thetanks are constructed of woods best fitted to resist decay, a more orless rapid decomposition is inevitable, beginning where the surfaces arecovered by the hoops, and extending thence into the substance of thestaves, and progressing within the latter vertically both up and down,until they become weakened to such a degree as to render the tanks unfitfor use. The oozing of the liquid contents through possible cracksbetween the staves, and probably through the pores of the wood composingthe same, causes moisture to accumulate underneath the hoops upon thesurface of the tank, whence the atmosphere with its antiseptic qualitiesis excluded. As the hoops prevent contact of air with those portions ofthe staves which lie immediately beneath them, thereby excluding suchportions from the drying and antiseptic qualities of the surroundingatmosphere, the latter s preservative properties act only upon the woodbetween the hoops.

exterior surface of a tank,showing the preferred manner of applying myimprovement; Fig. 2 a sectional plan View of the same, and Fig. 3 a viewin elevation of a broken portion of the exterior surface of atanlgshowing a modification of my improvement.

A A are staves, and B is ahoop, preferably of metal and of thedescription commonly used on tanks. Each stave A is provided with one ormore longitudinal grooves, t, formed in the exterior surface of thesame, to permit ready circulation of atmospheric air beneath the hoop B.The groovestare formed preferably about one inch apart, extendingvertically the full height of the tank, and by preference are circularin cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, though any other form of recesspermitting a free circulation of air between the interior surface of thehoop and the surface of the staves is within the scope of my invention.The depthand width of the recesses are regulated according to the widthof the hoops employed and thickness of the staves, though thesedimensions must always be such as to afford permanent air-spaces andpreclude the possibility of their becoming filled up with dirt, 850. Afour-and-one-hal-finch hoop, for example, if the widest employed on atank in which the staves are about two and one-half inches thick wouldrequire the recesses to be about three-eighths of an inch in depth andabout three-fourths of an inch in width.

It is not desirable, on the one hand, to form the grooves t at a greaterdistance from each other than about one inch, since in that case thebeneficial effect of the freely-circulating air in the grooves may belost to the fibers of the wood lying so much at one side as to bewithout its reach through penetration; nor, on the other hand, isitdesirable that the grooves shall approach each other much more nearly,since considerably narrower surfaces would necessitate th emultiplication of grooves,

whereby the tank might be unnecessarily weakened.

The modification represented in Fig. 3 of the a drawings shows thestaves A provided with vertical recesses s,of any desired formincrosssection, extending beneath the hoop B, and

for a short distance only above and below it. While this constructionwill afford the advantages designed to be accomplished, it presents theobjection of being difficult to form, and is therefore not so desirableas that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.-

1 am aware that it is not broadly new to indent longitudinally or at anangle staves for barrels, kegs, pails, tubs, and the like,'to inlprovethe appearance of the articles and prevent the hoops from slipping; andI am also aware that it is old to crimp transversely and longitudinallythe hoops to surround these articles, and afford thereby sharp surfacesupon the hoops to penetrate the staves and prevent their slipping on thelatter.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A'stave for tanks having a portion of its surface cut away to affordone or more longitudinal grooves, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a tank, the combination of the hoops B and staves A, provided withvertical longitudinal grooves 15, formed by cutting away from thesurfaces of the staves, substantially as described, and for the purposeset forth.

CHRISTIAN OLSEN.

In presence of A. S. PARI'J, I A. GEO. BEAUDRY.

